Vaporizer



Dec. 17, 1935. .1. ROBINSON 2,024,249

VAPORIZER Original Filed Aug. 18, 1930 INVENTOR J'Ifohmsow 5Y2? i 7/ gATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 17, 1935 NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE ApplicationAugust 18, 1930, Serial No. 476,112 Renewed October 10, 1933 6 Claims.

This invention relates todevices of the hand type for vaporizingmedicaments for inhalation in the treatment of head colds, sinus,catarrh and other head afflictions. The invention is an improvement onthe construction shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 358,120filed April 25th, 1929, now Patent No. 1,940,920 and among the objectsis to provide a vaporizer of the type described and which may be heatedeither electrically or by other heating means. A special feature of theinvention is the provision of a heat applying member, consisting of arelatively shallow receptacle, shiftably connected with the body of thevaporizer and adapted to receive a suitable form of fuel, such assolidified alcohol or other preferably smokeless fuel.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimprovement, with the heat applying member in the closed or foldedposition; some of the parts are in section.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the construction shown in Figure 1, butwith the heat applying member in the heating position. In this View theheat applying member is shown in dotted lines in the position itoccupies when being loaded.

Figure 3 is a sectional View on approximately the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective View of the clamp which supports the heatapplying member in place, and also a view in perspective of the heatingmember, and

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a vaporizer of the type shown in myco-pending application, Serial No. 304,967, filed September 10th, 1928,as it would be provided with the heat applying member of my presentinvention.

My improvement includes a container or chamber 8, suitably curved at 9,to be mounted on an electric globe, or other type of heating device, inthe manner shown in Figure 1 of my aforesaid co-pending application,Serial No. 358,120. The chamber is off-set at 0 to receive, in aremovable manner, the cap or hood I l The hood is inclined as shown, andis provided with a vertically extending neck or sleeve l2. Near thissleeve the hood is perforated, as at M to form air inlets. The sleeve i2is provided with elongated grooves I5, which also serve as air inlets orvents, the stem 56 of the nasal member ill being cut away as at 18 topermit the air to enter the sleeve l2 and pass downwardly along thelower end of the stem is and then upwardly through the opening [8 formedlongitudinally entirely through the nasal member I! and stem IS. Thestem is preferably reduced in diameter at its lower portion to form ashoulder, against which the sleeve I2 abuts, as shown in Figures 1 and2. The chamberS is of any suitable depth, but preferably quite deep,-andthe openings or vents I4 aforesaid are located near 5 the sleeve [2 inorder to permit of extreme tilting of the vaporizer without spilling thecontents. The nasal member and stem, l6 and I1 respectively, arepreferably of one piece, though they may, of course be made of separateparts and 10 suitably joined if desired. The material for these partsmay be of any that is suitable, preferably hard rubber or a phenolcondensation product. The container 8, and its snugly but removablyfitting cap ll, may also be made of 15 any suitable material, preferablyaluminum or tin or heat-resisting glass. The connection between the stem[6 of the nasal member, and the sleeve [2 is preferably a tight slidingfit, and the shank or lower portion 20 of the stem extends 20 preferablybelow the horizontal center of the chamber 8, in order to force the aircurrents down against the hot medicament and thus heat them before theyturn upwardly through the opening E9 in the nasal member. This move- 25ment of the air current is, of course, produced by act of inhalation,and these air currents lift the vapors of the medicant upwardly throughthe channel l9 directly to the nasal passages while the vapors are stillhot. The resulting 30 treatment is very effective.

To heat my improved vaporizer by means other than electrical, I providea novel form of heat applying member or stove 2|, preferably made ofaluminum or tin or very thin sheet steel. It is 35 provided at one endwith a cup or receptacle 22 of suitable size, depth and shape, and itsother end is turned upwardly to approximately the vertical plane as at23 and is preferably tubular and hollow. A resilient clamp 24, fitssnugly and 40 tightly around the chamber 8 and rests against the loweror bottom portion of the offset In of the chamber 8. The clamp isprovided with a cylindrically shaped bearing 25, which snugly grips theshank 23 of the heat applying mem- ,5 ber or stove 2|, the shank havingslidingengagement with the bearing 25 and also rotatable engagementtherewith.

The chamber 8 is provided in its bottom with a vertically offset portionor housing 26, in which 50 the horizontally extending arm 22 of the heatapplying member normally rests, when the vaporizer is out of use. InFigure l the stove or heating element 21 is shown in this foldedposition and the vaporizer is illustrated as sitting on a 55 support ofsome form. The housing or groove 26 extends transversally of the chamber8 but not entirely across the bottom thereof, and it leads upwardly awayfrom the curved portion 9 aforesaid.

When it is desired to use my improved vaporizer, the cap II is liftedfrom the chamber 8 and the medicament applied in a quantity notsufficient to engage the bottom portion 20 of the nasal or nozzle memberIT. The cap is then replaced and the heat applying element 2] is movedto the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 by pressing downwardlyon the shank 23 of the heating member and by rotating the member to theright or left to bring the receptacle 22 thereof out from under thebottom of the chamber 8. The heating fuel is then put in the stove orreceptacle 22 and lighted, whereupon the stove is rotated around underthe bottom of the chamber and preferably to the central part thereofseeFigure 2. When the medicament has been heated sufficiently to mostcomfortably agree with the sensitiveness of the nasal membrane of theuser, the vaporizer is pressed downwardly against any suitable object,thus causing the heat applying element 2| to slide upwardly through thebearing 25 of the clamp 24 and into the position shown in Figure 1. Thiswill, of course, immediately extinguish the flame. It will be understoodthat the bearing 25 may be soldered permanently to the chamber 8 orotherwise made a fixed part thereof if desired.

The fuel for the heat applying member 2| may, as aforesaid, be of anysuitable material, preferably smokeless, and may consist of a pinch orpellet of solidified alcohol, or similar substance, suitably formed intopellets or cubes for convenient packaging, and carrying.

In Figure 5 I illustrate a vaporizer of the type shown in my aforesaidco-pending application, Serial No. 304,967, in which the nasal member 21is provided with a slidable ejector 28 adapted to remove at willcapsules 29 loaded with a suitable medicament. These capsules arepackaged in quantities of I2 or 15 to the package, and are applied tothe vaporizer stem 21 by setting the latter tightly into an opening inthe perforated top of the capsule 29. In this construction the heatingelement or stove 2! of the preferred form of my invention is supportedon the nozzle member 27 and operates as in the case of the preferredconstruction of my improvement.

As will be noted the preferred form of my invention may be readilycompletely disassembled for the purpose of cleaning. Not only may thecup 8 and the cap H be easily separated, and the cap removed from thenozzle member I1, but the heat applying element or stove 21 may beeasily removed from its bearing 25 in the clamp 24 and the clamp 24itself quickly removed from the cup or chamber 8.

What I claim is:

1. A vaporizer of the class described, comprising a nozzle body, havinga passage thereto from top to bottom and carrying at its bottom portiona member forming a medicament chamber removably supported with respectto the nozzle body, a heat applying member, and means yieldably grippingsaid heat applying member for slidably and rotatably supporting the samewith respect to the nozzle body, said heat applying member normallyresting beneath said medicament chamber.

2. A vaporizer of the class described, comprising in combination, acontainer adapted to contain a medicament to be vaporized, saidcontainer having a cap fitted thereto, the cap being provided with airvents, a hollow member engaging said cap and extending upwardlytherefrom and carrying a nasal piece through which the vapors of saidmedicament are adapted to be drawn on inhalation, a heat applyingmember, and means detachably carried by said container and yieldablygripping said heat applying member for slidably and rotatably supportingthe same.

3. A vaporizer of the class described, comprising in combination, acontainer adapted to contain a medicament to be vaporized, saidcontainer having a recess on the bottom thereof constituting a housing,a hollow nasal member extending upwardly from said container andsuitably connected thereto, said container being provided with vents toadmit air currents when the vapors of said medicament are lifted throughthe nasal member by inhalation, and. a heat applying member movablysupported on said container and shiftable into the housing in thecontainer when the vapcrizer is not in use.

4. A vaporizer of the class described, comprising in combination, anozzle body having a passage therethrough, a medicament containerremovably supported on the lower portion of said body, a supportingmember yieldably gripping said container, and a fuel receiving heatapplying member yieldably gripped by said supporting member androtatable with respect to said container to receive a heating fuel andthence returnable to the service position, said heat applying memberbeing adjustable vertically with respect to said container to expeditethe heating of said medicament or to extinguish the flame of the lightedfuel as desired.

5. A vaporizer of the class described, comprising in combination, acontainer adapted to contain a medicament to be vaporized, saidcontainer having a stop or shoulder thereon, a cap fitted to saidcontainer and abutting said shoulder, said cap being provided with airvents and having a vertically extending shank, a hollow stem having atits upper end a nasal piece and at its lower end a portion of reduceddiameter which projects downwardly through said shank a substantialdistance into said container, said container being adapted to engagesaid cap in a removable manner, a resilient support mounted on saidcontainer and firmly gripping the same, and a stove or heat ing elementslidably and rotatably mounted on said resilient support and adapted tobe shifted vertically and laterally into and out of heating relation tosaid chamber.

6. A vaporizer of the class described, comprising in combination, acontainer adapted to contain a medicament to be vaporized, saidcontainer having a cap fitted thereto, the cap being provided with airvents, a hollow member engaging said cap and extending upwardlytherefrom and carrying a nasal piece through which the vapors of saidmedicament are adapted to be drawn on inhalation, a heat applyingmember, and means detachably carried by said hollow member and yieldablygripping said heat applying member for slidably and rotatably supportingthe same.

JOSEPH ROBINSON.

